RAC validates its headliner status at Club Nokia

You know an artist must be destined to play in LA when their first big hit is titled “Hollywood” and another one of their songs is named after the city’s most infamous freeway.

But for André Allen Anjos, who started Remix Artist Collective (RAC) in his college dorm room as a remixing side project when he couldn’t land an internship or job in the music industry (read our interview with him here), it’s been a steady progression over the past three years. Since remixing some of indie rock’s biggest bands, the native of Portugal has written a whole album’s worth of original material and played some of the most reputable U.S. music festivals in the last 12 months.

With Friday night’s gig at Club Nokia serving as an unofficial Goldenvoice showcase thanks to opening sets from two established “solo” projects if you will — Geographer, the San Francisco indie-rock band founded by singer-songwriter Mike Deni, as well as Big Data, the electronic music project of Alan Wilkis that has taken the airwaves and charts by storm with its single “Dangerous” featuring Joywave — Anjos and his sidekicks made their return to LA for the first time in more than a year, arriving onstage well after midnight to cheers from a rather modest crowd of mostly 20-somethings.

When you think about RAC’s backstory and what it started as, it’s a relatively unique one that most contemporary artists don’t share. But while Anjos has made original songwriting more of a priority for RAC now, he also hasn’t forgot where he came from or who he was when he founded the project. Heavy hitters like “Hollywood” and “Let Go” were worked into the show as expected, but the standout moments of the night came from a short, yet dynamic list of hybrid covers/remixes that were sprinkled in here and there. RAC made sure to tap into the indie-pop well early with Two Door Cinema Club’s “Something Good Can Work” and Foster the People’s “Houdini”, but it was Joywave’s “Tongues” and ODESZA’s “Say My Name” that triggered the loudest response from fans. “3AM”, RAC’s newest track that features Colorado vocalist Katie Herzig, also made an appearance at one point, although it was Liz Anjos, aka Pink Feathers, who was tasked with delivering the pop-infused cut’s heartbreaking lyrics.

Nevertheless, for all his accomplishments so far, Anjos has plenty of more work to do. After all, with only one studio album to date (the other recording being the soundtrack to the 2010 film “Holy Rollers”), RAC is still very much in the process of learning how to play the role of headliner — and with greater opportunity comes greater expectations. That’s not to say RAC can’t or won’t live up to them, but as Anjos and his bandmates continue to gel and build more chemistry in and out of the studio, there’s reason to believe after Friday’s performance in LA that there are more good things to come from this one-of-a-kind “collective.”